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Joshua Hale Fialkov Talks Origins, Future of 'The Bunker'

Joe Infurnari/Oni Press

The creator and writer of the comic book talks about what's to come as the series makes the leap from digital to print, courtesy of Oni Press.

Wednesday sees the launch of the print edition of The Bunker, the mysterious thriller by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari. Originally launched last year as a digital-only release, the print edition comes from Portland, Ore.'s Oni Press.

"I've been working on a few project with Oni for a few years now, and when the first issue went up on our site, Joe Nozemack from Oni was one of our first customers, and our first piece of fan mail," Fialkov told The Hollywood Reporter by email. "After he yelled at me for not pitching it to him, he then offered for Oni to be a home for us when we move into our next phase."

Fialkov described the origins of the project as coming from frustrations he felt with the comic industry. "I'd just come off a truly traumatic couple of years working for DC Comics, and I was determined to prove to myself that I could tell a story, on my own, that I cared about," he explained. "A lot of the initial planning was going on before this current renaissance in creator-owned comics we've seen the past six months, so it seemed like doing floppies would be a net loss for us. But times have changed."

Knowing that the story will exist in print as well as digitally has impacted the way in which The Bunker will be told. "We always thought of the digital chapters as shorter than a full 'issue' worth of story, so the ramp up in terms of story depth was something I had to figure out," he said. "Luckily, Joe Infurnari is not just a brilliant artist, but he's quite a deft storyteller, so between his help and our editors at Oni, James [Lucas Jones] and Robin [Herrera], I think we've found a structure and a feel that really works for both mediums."

Not that The Bunker is content with just two different formats. "We're working with a couple huge producers and an amazing studio on a TV version right now," Fialkov teased, saying that one of the producers has been "responsible for some of my most formative storytelling experiences as a teenager." Full details about that will be announced "relatively soon," he promises.

"We reached an amazing, loyal and rabid fanbase online," Fialkov said about The Bunker's move into new formats and media, "but we want a chance to service all of our audience."

The Bunker #1 is now available in comic book stores. Fialkov is signing the book at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, with a second signing at Pasadena's Collector's Paradise on Saturday at 7 p.m.